the ottawa hospital is cutting 400 jobs in bid to address financial challenges
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the ottawa hospital's president and ceo, cameron love.
ashley fraser
/
postmedia
the ottawa hospital says it is preparing to cut three per cent of its workforce — around 400 jobs — as it continues to address financial challenges facing the health-care sector.
“we are in the process of working with unions and teams throughout the hospital to finalize specific details,” the hospital said in a statement on thursday, april 9. “these reductions amount to three per cent of our overall workforce, however through vacancy management and early-retirement options we will work to limit any involuntary departures.”
earlier in the day, hospital president and ceo cameron love and chief of staff virginia roth sent an email to all employees about the cuts.
“we want to assure you that we are doing everything possible to protect jobs and access to services while we continue providing excellent care to our community,” they told employees in the memo, which was obtained by the ottawa citizen.
the ottawa hospital has announced it will cut about 400 positions, representing three per cent of its workforce.
tony caldwell
/
postmedia
in a statement, the hospital said it had been working with the provincial government to address its financial challenges.
“toh has implemented a series of measures to reduce budget pressures, find savings and preserve health-care positions. these include offering early retirement for those who are eligible, freezing and eliminating vacant positions, implementing innovative ways to provide care that are more efficient, returning to pre-covid funded levels of staffing, freezing travel and moving to a more economical provincial group benefits plan,” the hospital statement said.
“despite all of this, regrettably, there will still be some reductions to job positions in the coming months.”
the hospital says it is committed to maintaining its capacity to provide specialized services for emergencies, surgeries, clinics and inpatient care “while continuing to find new, innovative and more efficient ways to deliver care to our community. all measures will be taken to ensure we continue to provide exceptional care for everyone in our community.”
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the cuts come at a time when hospitals across ontario regularly have to put patients in hallways or other spaces because they are over capacity. a staff member at the ottawa hospital, who asked to remain anonymous, warned that patients would feel the cuts.
“at a time when ottawa and the champlain lhin (region) has never been more populous, we are decreasing staffing in the region’s major trauma centre and premier academic health-care institution. there is no doubt that choice will detrimentally affect all residents of the region and cause immeasurable preventable harm,” they said.
the ottawa hospital, which delivers health care at three main campuses — general, civic, and riverside — is one of the largest health-sciences centres in canada and the largest hospital in eastern ontario. it is also one of the largest employers in the national capital region with more than 13,000 employees. nurses make up more than one-third of its total workforce, according to information from the hospital.
the ottawa hospital is one of the largest employers in the national capital region with more than 13,000 employees at its general, civic and riverside campuses. nurses make up more than one-third of its total workforce.
ashley fraser
/
postmedia
the ottawa hospital is the latest ontario health-care institution to announce job cuts as hospitals cope with funding that has not kept up with population growth, inflation and more complex patient needs, according to the ontario hospital association. the ontario government committed to increasing hospital funding by $1.1 billion in its recent budget. the oha has warned that will be insufficient to cover inflationary and other pressures and that hospitals will have tough decisions to make.
earlier this year, ottawa’s bruyère health announced it was cutting 55 front-line health positions. bruyère reported a $12-million operating deficit in 2025. every other hospital in the city, aside from the ottawa hospital, also reported a deficit in 2025. across the province, the hospital debt load in 2025 exceeded $360 million, according to the ontario hospital association.
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a statement from cupe 4600 said the union local representing 4,300 workers at the ottawa hospital, was “shocked” that it was laying off more than 100 front-line staff, mainly nurses and personal-support workers.
“these cuts will hurt patient care at toh, which is already overwhelmed by high patient volumes and long wait-times due to staffing and capacity shortages,” said the statement from local president robert gauthier. “we estimate the hospital should be adding about 250 positions annually (a six per cent increase) just to keep up with current service levels. but, instead of seeing investments in staffing and patient care, we are facing cuts.
“as health-care workers, we are calling on the provincial government to fund our hospital properly not just to save these jobs, but to improve staffing and capacity in accordance with the needs of our patients.”
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